Dessert

Gingerbread Granola

3 · Dec 10, 2013 · 2 Comments

I’ve known for some time that I want to recreate this recipe. Gingerbread has been on my mind a lot recently with the holidays. My two flavor staples for this time of year are gingerbread and eggnog. So when I tried out a granola that incorporated one of those I became giddy with the thought of building a recipe around the product! This gingerbread granola is now a staple in our home. Mainly because it’s so quick to prepare and packages up beautifully for last minute neighbor treats!

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup melted butter
1/3 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup molasses
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or a baking mat.

Mix all of your ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread into an even layer on your prepared pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through the baking time. Allow to cool completely and enjoy!

While this bakes you get the wonderful smell of the Holiday’s floating through your home. It is so wonderful to wake up to and seems to last for days! We like to double the batch otherwise it never seems to make it to our friends and family!

Try it out on top of cereal, yogurt, fruit… or just on it’s own. It is unbelievably delicious and helps spread Christmas cheer whenever you decide to share! If you liked this recipe, check out these:

Coconut Macaroons // Easy Orange Blossom // Cranberry Bliss Bars

Peppermint Drop Cookies // Cookie Swap Recipe

21 · Dec 5, 2013 · 14 Comments

Peppermint Drop Cookie Recipe // The season is upon us… Holiday baking and general goodie making. I grew up with a Mom who created all kinds of goodies each year to share with friends and neighbors. This year I decided to experiment with a "cookie" or a meringue cookie really… to come up with a cute take on those traditional peppermint candies.

Meringue cookies are all over the patisseries in Paris in varies shapes and flavors. They are sooooo easy to make and are a fun unique treat that you can WOW your friends with. They are made just like a meringue for a pie, but you pipe them onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake them for quite a bit longer. They turn into these cute, crunchy, yet soft in the middle sweet treats. When you add a little red food coloring and some peppermint extract they get even better and are like peppermint candies, but WAY better!

Peppermint Drop Cookie Recipe

This recipe has been adapted from Martha Stewart's Peppermint Meringues with Chocolate Filling Recipe // It will yield about 30 two inch size meringue cookies.

3 egg whites

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

red gel food coloring

Instructions

In a heat safe mixing bowl, place the egg whites and sugar. Place over a medium sauce pan filled half way with water at a low simmer on the stove. Slowly whisk the egg whites and sugar until the sugar has melted. The best way to test that is using your CLEAN fingers. Just pinch a bit of the mixture and see if you still feel the grit of the sugar. As soon as the grit is gone, this usually take a few minutes, the whites are then ready to whip into a meringue.

Place mixing bowl in mixer and with the whisk attachment, whisk on high until the egg whites and sugar form stiff peaks. Once you have stiff peaks, add the peppermint extract and whisk until fully combined.

Place a large star tip in a large pastry bag. Then using a clean brush or tip of a butter knife, draw some stripes onto the inside of the pastry bag with the red gel food coloring.

It doesn't need to be pretty, or exact… just four or five lines to add the red stripes to the peppermint drops.

Next, pipe the meringue onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Make the cookies about two inches in diameter. A quick note… Due to the nature of these cookies you may want to use masking tape to tape down the parchment paper on the baking sheet. That way you won't have parchment paper floating around wreaking havoc on your peppermint drop cookies. Make nice little drops with the pastry bag and then carefully pull up to create the nice peak at the top.

Place in a 175˚ oven for 3 hours. I also place a wooden spoon in between the oven door and the oven so that any steam that is created can escape. Once the cookies are hard, remove them from the oven and let cool.

These little meringues turn into these bite size peppermint treats that just melt in your mouth. They are a perfect addition to a goodie plate, because they add DRAMA. The nice thing is they can be made ahead of time and stored in an air tight container for a couple of weeks. You can even create a fun little goodie bag just filled with these little treats. Either way, they would be a great addition to your holiday treat list!

Santa will even love them on his goodie plate. They are a nice change of pace to your regular cookie!

I am participating in a fun cookie swap this week with a group of fabulous bloggers!!

You can head over and check out their fun recipes…

Tracie from Cleverly Inspired made some rustic Gingerbread Biscotti…

Chelsea from Two Twenty One made another peppermint treat… Peppermint Chocolate Cookies.

Tomorrow, Carmel from Our Fifth House will have another cookie to share with you guys! Make sure to head over and see what she's created.

Happy Holidays!

Caramel Corn Recipe

0 · Dec 3, 2013 · 5 Comments

Caramel Corn Recipe // Hello Whipperberry friends! Can you believe that it's December already? It feels like this season flies by so fast…it's hard to take it all in isn't it? There's just so much to do, and so little time to do it! But I admit I love it all…the fast pace of the malls, the music, the gatherings and the goodies. Oh my, how much do I love the goodies! I might need a bigger pants by the time January rolls around! Nah, holiday calories don't count right?! 😉

Speaking of goodies, I wanted to share a family favorite recipe with you today. This caramel corn is actually my Grandma's recipe, and I remember my Mom making it for us every year…I always looked forward to it! And now I make it for my family. Don't you just love recipes that get passed down through the generations? There's something so special about sharing a recipe with your loved ones that generations before you have been enjoying too. Love that so much.

Anyway, this caramel corn is SO good. Creamy, and chewy and delicious! I hope you try it and love it!

This caramel corn is also perfect for gift giving or simply just enjoying with your family during a movie night! It's quick and easy to make and it's crazy delicious! Trust me when I say this treat will get devoured. I seriously could eat this all by my lonesome!

Ingredients

1⅓ cups granulated sugar
1 cup salted butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
8 cups popped popcorn
1 cup pecans & almonds (optional)

Instructions

Pop your popcorn. Then measure out about 8 cups and spread it out onto a large cookie sheet.
If you wish to add nuts to your popcorn, you might want to toast them in a 350 degree oven for 2-5 minutes, watching them very carefully. Toasting them brings out amazing flavor! When the nuts are toasted, sprinkle them over the popped popcorn. Set aside.
Now on to the caramel! In a saucepan melt the butter, then add the sugar and corn syrup.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Continue to boil, stirring occasionally until the mixture turns caramel colored.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Then pour the caramel over the popcorn and nuts. Using a fork, gently mix, and separate into clusters.
You can eat it at this point while it's soft and warm, or you can let it cool and enjoy it later.
Store in a tightly closed container.

Deeeelish! I hope your holiday season is full of cheer and much deliciousness!

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If you get at chance this season, I'd love for you to stop by my blog for some Christmas cookie recipes! Yum.

Mint Chocolate Chip Blizzard Cookies | Candy Cane Crumble Nutella Cookies | Eggnog Ice Box Cookies

Have a delicious day!

Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie Recipe

1 · Dec 1, 2013 · 2 Comments

This post brought to you by Eagle Brand // As a kid, one of the things I looked forward to every holiday season, was when my Dad would share some of his FAVORITE chocolate covered cherries with me. I would have to say the apple didn't fall to far from the tree when it comes to this favorite confection. I adore cherries and to add chocolate to the mix made them absolutely PERFECT!

Not too long ago, my Mom introduced me to a recipe that I have since fallen in love with. I modified it a bit and came up with this scrumptious Chocolate Covered Cherry Mousse Pie…

Ingredients for Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie

1 14 oz. can of Eagle Brand™ Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 oz. of a unsweetened Hershey chocolate bar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 prepared graham cracker crust

20 oz. maraschino cherries, drained (2 jars)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup cold water

3.9 oz. box of vanilla instant pudding

1 cup of whipping cream, whipped OR 3 cups of Cool Whip

Chocolate swirls optional

Directions for Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie

In a small double boiler over low heat and occasionally stirring, melt the unsweetened chocolate and 1/2 of the Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk. Once the chocolate mixture has melted add a 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. Pour the chocolate mixture into the bottom of the prepared graham cracker crust.

Next, take one of the 10 oz. bottles of cherries and cut them in all in half and place on top of the chocolate mixture in the crust.

Set the pie aside at this point and start on the mousse.

Reserve a few cherries to garnish the pie and then chop the remaining cherries and set aside.

In the mixing bowl of your mixer, whip the cream cheese until light. Gradually whip the water into the cream cheese and remaining Eagle Brand Milk. Add pudding mix, the remaining extract and chopped cherries. Mix well. Gently fold in the whipped cream or Cool Whip. Pour into pie crust and chill for 4 hours or until set. Garnish with whole cherries and chocolate swirls if desired.

You can even make this recipe as mini pies… Perfect to serve at your holiday gatherings.

They are so yummy and when your guest take their first bite, they get the yummy chocolate surprise at the bottom…

Chocolate covered cherry heaven!!

The folks at Eagle Brand would love to help YOU sweeten your holidays with a fun GIVEAWAY!! They are giving away a KitchenAid Mixer along with an Eagle Brand™ gift pack to one lucky WhipperBerry friend…

Click HERE to visit the GIVEAWAY

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Eagle Brand™ Sweetened Condensed Milk. I received product and a KitchenAid Mixer to help create this post series.

Dessert

Peppermint Drop Cookie Recipe

Instructions

Ingredients

Instructions

Ingredients for Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie

Directions for Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie

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